The Light of Hope, AU from Injustice onwards
Title: Light of Hope Part 4
Words: 3096
Summary: Picks up where chapter 3 left off, in the Fortress, Doomsday is finally free, please enjoy, and remember, I don't own Smallville
Chloe Sullivan backed away in horror as she watched the black kryptonite do its work, and split Davis from Doomsday. She was horrified at the way the separation took place, it was agonizing, Davis was screaming like Chloe had never heard him scream before, and she had heard him scream a lot over the last few weeks, but that had been pleasure, not pain. Somehow she had always thought that the separation would be quick and painless, not the agonizing split that she was witnessing.
Davis uttered a final, awful scream, and then collapsed on the crystal floor, his clothes in tatters, blood pouring from over a dozen different wounds. Chloe looked up, and saw the other half standing over Davis, not yet moving, almost revelling in it’s newfound freedom. Though Chloe had seen Doomsday before, she was still shocked every time she laid eyes on him. Doomsday stood eight feet tall, with impenetrable grey skin; he was covered from head to toe in sharp, indestructible spikes. His claws were razor-sharp, and they could tear human flesh apart like tissue paper, Chloe had seen him do exactly that on multiple occasions.
Doomsday was standing in front of the portal; its pull was having no effect on the Ultimate Destroyer. Turning to Clark, who was frozen, staring at his anti-thesis for the first time, Chloe shouted, “Push him in, Clark, hurry.” Clark snapped out of his reverie, and shot forward, with the intent to shove Doomsday into the Phantom Zone before it could have a chance to react. However Clark had severely underestimated his opponent, and just as he was about to land a blow, Doomsday struck him across the jaw, and knocked him across the Fortress.
Clark slammed into a crystal formation, and through it, as it shattered, and he crashed to the ground, his jaw completely shattered. It took less than a second for Clark’s jaw to heal, and he leapt up just in time to intercept Doomsday as he shot across the across the Fortress and tried to strike Clark again. This time Clark caught the monster’s claw and struck back, delivering a solid punch to Doomsday’s chest, sending the creature flying through the Fortress and back towards the portal. Super speeding there himself, Clark continued to go on the attack, striking Doomsday again and again, at his fastest speed, not giving the creature a chance to respond.
For a moment Clark thought that he had won, and he stopped his pummelling of Doomsday for a second, and that second was all that the monster needed to catch it’s breath and go on the offensive. It seized Clark by the throat with one claw, and with the other, it ripped his chest open. Clark gasped for air as Doomsday’s claw crushed his throat with an iron grip, his cartilage only seconds away from snapping, Clark unleashed his heat vision on the beast, searing it’s skin and vaporizing it’s spikes.
Roaring in pain, Doomsday released Clark, and once again, he felt his wounds instantly heal. Not willing to make the same mistake twice, Clark seized the moment, and resumed his pummelling of Doomsday, pouring every last bit of his strength into the punches, hammering the ultimate destroyer into the crystal floor. This time he didn’t stop; he just kept on striking and striking, not letting up for even a second.
However, Clark could feel his strength flagging, and, with his energy decreasing, one of his punches was just a bit slower than he intended, and Doomsday caught it. His eyes blinking in surprise, Clark struck out with his other fist, and to his shock, Doomsday caught it as well. The beast then displayed shocking strength by crushing both of Clark’s fists, breaking the bones into shards. Clark’s mouth became a rictus of agony, and he screamed in pain, trying to break free with no success. Finally Doomsday released Clark’s fists, and vised his claws on Clark’s throat once more, and crushed it with all of its strength.
Chloe froze as Doomsday sent Clark flying away, with Davis now separate from the beast, she doubted that it would still refrain from harming her. To her surprise, however, Doomsday turned and looked at her, and for a second, it growled, “Chloe” it said, and then it sped towards Clark. Chloe stood there for a moment, shocked by what she had just witnessed, then she snapped back to reality, and rushed to Davis’s side. She checked his vitals and felt for a pulse, and was shocked when she felt none at all.
Doomsday came sailing across the Fortress and smashed into a crystal pillar just a few meters away from her, and Clark was hot on his heels. As the two super-powered beings fought, Chloe tried to rouse Davis from his unconscious state. “Davis please, wake up, please, we have to get away from here, and it’s not safe.” Davis simply laid there, his eyes closed, his skin cold and pale, and his pulse non-existent.
Davis Bloome was in a dark place, his mind was shattered, he had not been meant to have real feelings, he had been designed to be camouflage, to help the beast blend in with it’s population. His creators Zod and Faora had given him a Kryptonian form as a touch of vanity, so they could have a handsome being they could call a son. Davis looked human, and he had felt human his entire life, but the feelings he had felt had originated from the beast. Despite it’s appearances, Doomsday was sentient, it was just incapable of expressing it, it was still an infant in all senses, and it had never been free until now.
Doomsday had been gestating the entire time it had been in Davis’s body, until the black kryptonite separated them, and Doomsday was “born” in the sense that it now existed on it’s own. When Doomsday left Davis however, it took with it most of the emotions and thoughts that had made up it’s camouflage, leaving Davis Bloome a handsome, Kryptonian powered shell, devoid of nearly all emotions and thoughts.
Davis felt, nothing, there was just nothing left, no feelings or thoughts at all, no desires, no hopes, just vast emptiness. A single remnant of emotion lingered, the one thing that the beast had possessed in such abundance that it hadn’t seen the need to take it all with it. Rage, unbridled rage, anger and bloodlust, that was all that was left in Davis Bloome now, and even that was but a ghost of emotion. Davis had no strength left in his body, he could barely hold onto a thread of life, but he was letting go, he had no reason to go on.
Just as he was about to disappear forever, he heard something, a voice, a beautiful voice, one that was saying his name.
“Davis please, come back to me, don’t leave, I need you,” Chloe begged, pleading with the unconscious Davis to return to her, golden tears flowing down her cheeks. The golden tears fell from her face and landed on Davis’s chest, and then his entire body began to glow with a soft light. Oblivious to what her tears were doing, Chloe sobbed in sadness, “Please Davis, you can’t leave, you’re finally free, we can be together, we can live happily ever after, just like Beauty and the Beast.” Davis Bloome remained motionless, though the light enveloping his body grew in intensity, her eyes filled with tears, Chloe noticed none of this, and continued to sob. “Please Davis, I love you, I love you more than anything else in this world. I love your smiles, I love the way you tease me, your kindness, your generosity, your love for poems, everything, I love you Davis Bloome, stay with me.”
The voice was crying, was pleading with Davis to stay with him, but he didn’t know who it was, he had no reason to hold on, and even if he did want to, his life energy was too weak to hold onto the thread of life any longer. Suddenly, he felt energy coursing back into him, and he heard the voice again, “Davis, I love you.” This time he recognized it, and then, deep within him, and emotion blossomed, he felt the love he had felt for Chloe return, and revive him completely, filling him with immense strength, and restoring the thoughts and emotions that the beast had taken with it when it had left.
Davis’s eyes snapped open, and he looked up to see Chloe’s teary face, her tears still falling on his chest, her skin looking somewhat pale.
“Chloe, it’s okay, I’m here,” said Davis, and he leaned up to kiss her.
Chloe was sobbing her heart out, when she heard Davis’s voice, and suddenly she felt him kiss her. Her eyes widened in joy, and she kissed him back, more tears flowing from her eyes, but born from joy, not sorrow. She threw her arms around Davis and embraced him fiercely, sobbing into his shoulder, his strong arms returning the hug. For a long moment the star-crossed couple hung in the embrace, then a loud crash jerked them both out of it.
Chloe looked in the direction of the sound and saw Clark, covered in blood, Doomsday’s claws squeezing his throat. She turned to Davis, “Davis, we have to help him, he’s being, ohhhhh,” she stumbled, and would have fallen had Davis not caught her. She waved him away, “I’m fine Davis, I’ll be okay, you have to help Clark, if he dies, neither of us have the slightest hope of defeating the beast.” Davis nodded, and lowered her to the floor, he kissed her on the forehead, and then turned and in an instant he was standing behind Doomsday.
Davis’s eyes widened, one second he had been ten meters away from the beast, the next he was standing next to it. His eyes shone in revelation, even though the beast was separate from him, he still possessed superhuman abilities. Not bothering to think about how he still had the powers, he stepped forward and seized the beast from behind, tearing it away from Clark, Davis hurled the beast away as far as he could.
As Doomsday sailed away, Davis looked down at his hands in amazement, he had experienced such strength before, but only when the beast was fighting to get out, now the power came to him naturally. In the distance Doomsday roared, and Davis quickly extended a hand to Clark to help him up, and Clark took it gratefully. Looking Davis in the eye, Clark asked, “Thanks for the help, you stopped him from killing me,” Davis nodded at him, “Your welcome, but we still have to finish it, Chloe’s feeling weak, and we have to help her.” Clark looked him in the eye, and nodded, “Then let’s finish Doomsday off,” and together they sped off to where Davis had thrown the monster.
Doomsday had smashed into a crystal formation, and the impact had caused an avalanche of crystals to fall from the ceiling, effectively burying him alive. Clark and Davis arrived at the scene, and looked at the motionless heap of crystals, Davis looked at Clark with a frown, “No way it’s that easy.” He was proven right a moment later, when the entire pile of crystals went flying, and Doomsday burst free, its red eyes glowing demonically. Rushing forward, Doomsday slashed with its claws, aiming to rip the hearts out of both of its opponents, but it was unable to strike either one. Clark sidestepped with a burst of speed and promptly unleashed his heat vision on Doomsday, burning away the creature’s skin, scorching it’s spikes, but not having the devastating effect it had had last time. Davis punched the beast in the side, and knocked it back into another crystal console, where the sharp crystal stabbed into its side, the Kryptonian technology drawing actual blood from the monster.
Clark shouted at Davis, “Grab it, we have get it back to the portal,” Davis gave a nod of assent, and both of them rushed forward. Each of them seized one of Doomsday’s arms, not giving it a chance to recover, and supersped back to the portal, dragging it along. They reached the portal, and they both saw Chloe, lying to the side, looking pale and weak, but conscious and stable. Clark and Davis were about to throw Doomsday into the portal, when it broke free of their grasp, and sent Clark flying towards the portal. Davis flew backwards, but quickly regained his footing and punched Doomsday in the chest with all of his strength, while Clark, who had managed to grab a crystal, blasted Doomsday with his heat vision yet again.
The monster went tumbling into the vortex, but like Clark, managed to grab hold of a crystal, and continued to resist the pull of the vortex. Clark looked back at Doomsday, who was further into the portal than him, and using all of his strength hit Doomsday with everything he had. He blasted it with both his heat vision and his super breath, and put all of his energy into a single super powered kick, which connected squarely with the beast. The combination of attacks knocked Doomsday deeper into the vortex, but it still held on with one claw, and, with the other, it grabbed Clark’s foot, and pulled on it, intent on dragging Clark into the Phantom Zone with him. Clark kicked and struggled, but could not break free, desperately, he blasted Doomsday with heat vision and super breath again, but it still held on. Then Davis shot forward and hit Doomsday with both fists, knocking the beast away from the crystals, and into the portal.
Doomsday vanished into the portal, and Davis flew in after him, his eyes closed, resigned to his fate. As Davis flew past him, Clark shouted, “Davis no, don’t do this, grab my leg,” his words reached Davis, and the dark-haired man grabbed Clark’s leg with both hands. However, the action served only to pull them both deeper into the vortex, and Davis looked up at Clark, “Clark I’m just pulling you in with me, I’m going to let go.”
Clark growled in frustration, “Davis just hang on, we’ll get out of this,” but Davis shook his head sadly.
“Tell Chloe I love her,” he said, and then he let go of Clark’s leg and tumbled off into the vortex. Or rather he tumbled off into the space where the portal had been, and crashed into one of the few remaining crystal formations. The portal to the Phantom Zone had vanished, and Clark fell to the floor, exhausted and puzzled. Looking behind him, he saw Chloe standing next to the console, her hand above it, holding the black crystal that she had just removed from it. Tossing the crystal to the side, she quickly ran to Davis’s side, and after helping him up, they both walked over to Clark, weary looking, but triumphant.
Chloe stepped up to Clark and flung her arms around him in a grateful hug, which he returned with great affection. After a long moment, she let go, and stepped back to Davis’s side, “Thank you Clark, you saved us both, if you hadn’t shown up when you did, Oliver would have killed me and then Davis would turned into Doomsday forever.”
Clark gave them both a smile, “I wouldn’t have done any of this without your inspiration, Chloe,” he said, “When you sacrificed everything to save Davis and me, when you left your entire life behind to be with Davis and keep him from changing, you showed me that Davis was worth saving.”
At this Davis looked uneasy, “Clark,” he said, “I’m not sure that you should have gone out of your way to save me, I’m still a murderer, I killed all those people.” Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but Clark interrupted, “No Davis, you’re not a murderer, you saved the lives of many people by doing what you did. Every time you killed one of those people, you kept Doomsday from emerging, and by doing that, you saved the countless innocent lives that Doomsday would have taken if he had emerged. By taking one life, you saved many more, that isn’t evil Davis, you did the best you could in your situation, and I don’t regret saving you at all.”
Davis still didn’t look convinced, but he nodded his head slowly, “All right, if you really think that I deserve this, Clark, fine, I’ll take it, and I promise to make the best of it.” Then he frowned, as if just remembering something, “But wait, I can’t go back to my normal life now, I’ve been correctly branded as a serial killer, the minute I return to Metropolis, the police will arrest me.” Clark and Chloe both smiled at that, and Chloe spoke, “Don’t worry Davis, all the police have is the word of Tess Mercer, there’s no actual proof, and we both have friends in high places.”
“That’s right,” said Clark, “Don’t worry Davis, we’ll make sure you’re cleared of all charges.”
“Now we can begin our lives together, Davis,” said Chloe in joy, “Davis you’re finally free, free forever, the nightmare is over, and now it can be one big happily ever after.”
That statement won a small smile from Davis, and he leaned down to kiss her, his face still sombre, but free of the massive weight that had been bearing down on him for many months. Chloe was right, he thought as he kissed her, the beast was gone forever, he was finally free, free to live a happy life with the one person he had ever loved and who loved him back just as much.
Their kiss lasted for several minutes, and showed no sign of stopping, so Clark cleared his throat and looked pointedly at both of them. “I know that you two love each other, but remember that I’m standing right here, and we should go, Chloe you’re still not looking well, are you all right.”
Chloe nodded, “Yes Clark, I’m fine, I’m just a little exhausted after this great ordeal.”
Clark looked at her sympathetically, “I’ll superspeed you and Davis back to the farm, just let me get the black crystal, and we can be on our way.” He retrieved the crystal with a burst of speed, then placed an arm over each of their shoulders and supersped them all off to the Kent Farm.